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Special Notice #225: A new UGWZ candidate in Pisces

December 1, 2010: A bright transient in Pisces was discovered by K. Itagaki at an unfiltered magnitude of 12.3 on 2010 November 30.50663 UT (JD 2455531.00663; reported by H. Yamaoka in vsnet-outburst 11854). The object was confirmed at V=12.1 by A. Oksanen (Muurame, Finland) shortly afterward (vsnet-outburst 11855), and I. Miller (Swansea, Wales, UK) reported the presence of superhumps with period 0.0571 day (reported by T. Kato, vsnet-outburst 11859). As noted by Yamaoka and by R. Koff (via cba-chat), the position of the optical transient is coincident with a faint star (<19.0); Koff identifies this object as USNO B1.0 1229-0022624. As noted by T. Kato, this object shows many of the properties of the WZ Sge subclass of dwarf novae. Time-series observations of this object are encouraged to better understand its nature, and to follow any subsequent evolution of the outburst.

The superhump variations will show significant changes in morphology during the course of the outburst, and time-series observers should strike the best balance between signal-to-noise and short exposures; the period of the star was stated as 0.0571 day (82.2 minutes), and observers should try to obtain exposures much shorter than this if possible. Unfiltered observations are acceptable, but the use of a V-filter is encouraged if it does not significantly increase exposure times to reach comparable signal to noise.

The object is located at the following (J2000) coordinates: RA: 01 20 59.60 , Dec: +32 55 44.8

The field does not yet have comparison stars assigned, so observers should clearly indicate the comparison stars used for their measurements. Finder charts may be plotted for this field using VSP: